A big reason for the Giants' success in recent years was their ability to say goodbye at the right time. Steve Smith, Kevin Boss, even Aaron Ross and Brandon Jacobs who have come back, they all left the team and had little to no success with other teams.

So far this year, though, two former Giants are playing well elsewhere. And they happen to be at two positions where they could have helped the Giants.

It's hard not to notice that while the Giants struggle at rushing the ball and sacking the quarterback - they are last in the NFL in both rushing yards per game and sacks per pass play - Ahmad Bradshaw and Osi Umenyiora are going about their business with the Colts and Falcons, respectively.

Bradshaw just ran for 95 yards against the 49ers, and in three games this year has 186 rushing yards on 41 carries with two touchdowns and a long of 27. The Giants as a team have run for 133 yards - 53 less than Bradshaw - and one touchdown. Their longest run of the year is for 18 yards. Bradshaw is averaging 4.5 yards per carry. The Giants -- 2.7.

That's not to say that Bradshaw would have been able to produce like that behind this current Giants offensive line. But he was certainly not a washed-up player when the Giants released him this offseason.

As for Umenyiora, that one gets a little more tricky. Clearly that parting was mutual and Umenyiora probably needed a new venue. But the fact that he had two sacks against the Dolphins on Sunday and no Giants player has more than one sack this season demonstrates how much they could have used his pass-rushing abilities . . . even if he was being used in a part-time capacity. Umenyiora also has an interception which he returned for a touchdown in Week 2 and forced two fumbles on Sunday.

It's probably bad enough for the Giants to deal with their worst start in 23 years. But to do it while watching some of the players they considered spare parts or redundancies, or were just unable to fit under the salary cap, contribute in areas where the Giants need the most help, well, that's as new to this regime as losing is.

Subscribe to Newsday’s sports newsletter for stories, photos and videos about your favorite New York teams plus national sports news and events.